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Downtown Monterey

Monterrey is the capital of the state of Nuevo Leon, one of the largest cities in Mexico, and is sometimes called the capital of the north. It is the country's center of heavy industry, with iron and steel factories, as well as companies working in copper, lead, zinc, and silver. As one of Mexico's major cities, it is the site of no less than three institutes of higher education. Founded in 1582, it took the name Nuestra Señora de Monterrey in 1596 in honor of the then ViceRoy of Spain, the Count of Monterrey.

As usual, we consulted Lonely Planet Mexico (LPM) for hotels in Monterrey and picked one that had a hotel parking lot. The price was a little higher than we wanted to pay, but when we saw our room we were quite content. It was an enormous room with a king-size bed, a very modern bathroom, and even, to our delight, a fridge and microwave. We rarely got such luxury in US hotels, but part of the price was a room with the tiniest of windows. Of course, even a tiny window is better than none, which is what the first rooms we were shown had.

Museum of Mexican History

Once we had transferred our belongings from the car to the hotel and cleaned up a bit, we set off to explore the city. Our first stop was the celebrated Mexican History Museum where we spent several hours immersing ourselves in the 400+ years of Mexican history as well as its pre-Hispanic and prehistorical past. This very modern museum is a museum any city could be proud of.

Government Square

After sating ourselves with historical facts, we wandered out into the big plaza to admire the government buidings and statues scattered about the huge square. It was a Sunday and now that the sun was starting to go down, the temperature was going down too and so the locals were starting to come out and enjoy the cooler temperatures of the evening.

Busker Clown

Clowns are a perennial sight whenever and wherever crowds gather in the evenings. This was our first Mexican clown and he cleverly worked Gerry into his act, suggesting without actually saying it that Gerry was really Santa Claus. Many young children believe the same thing. We have even heard youngsters saying just that to their parents.

Monterrey Cathedral

Our next stop was to find a bite to eat and then on to look at the Cathedral, a lovely building started in 1600. The square in front of the Cathedral was hopping with lots of vendors selling ice-cream, popcorn, and all kinds of sweets and snacks.

Cerveza de Cuauhtemoc Park

The next morning we went to learn about sustenance of the body rather than the mind. Mexico, as you may or may not know, is a big beer-drinking country and one of the biggest breweries, Cerveza de Cuauhtemoc, is located in Monterrey. The brewery is set in a park with tables set here and there and a bar serving free glasses of, you guessed it, beer. We had to wait for a tour and so we each took half a glass, but neither of us finished it. Too gassy for Jan, too beery for Gerry.

Baseball Museum at Beer Brewery

We decided to go on a Spanish-speaking tour rather than wait an extra half hour. It would have been terrible if not for the English language signs almost everywhere that filled in when our Spanish language skills failed. After the tour, we spent another half an hour in the Baseball Museum that was also in the brewery park. Not knowing much about baseball, Jan wasn't thrilled, but Gerry liked it, even if not a great baseball fan.

Huasteca Canyon Parking

On our second full day, we decided to take a spin out of town to a local beauty spot called Huasteca Canyon. What we hadn't bargained for was the fact that half of Monterrey had the same idea. The photo shows all the cars that managed to get into the heart of the canyon. What you can't see is the line of cars that stretches out to the park entrance and even further onto Monterry's streets. We parked as soon as we got within the park boundary and then walked along the canyon moving faster than the line of cars.

Huasteca Canyon

Once in the canyon, we found Monterrenyos cooking, eating, drinking, playing, and climbing a hill. We liked that idea and so found a path to a small hill overlooking the canyon and got the birdseye view that Gerry always craves.

Horsetail Falls

Our next excursion wasn't quite so slow going. We drove 35 km south of the city to another popular weekend jaunt, la Cascada de Cola de Caballo: Horsetail Falls. The falls were pretty and we spent a pleasant hour walking in the park and climbing to the top of the falls. A welcome stretch for our poor, soft, leg muscles.

Cascada de Cola de Caballo

As you can see we weren't exactly alone at the falls. But we were there early enough in the day and left early enough in the afternoon to miss the undoubted hordes of people who arrived later in the day because we had other fish to fry.

El Rey de Cabrito

Or rather, other goats to grill. We had read that grilled goat was the local specialty and there was a restaurant specializing in it just around the corner from our hotel, so we drove right there when we got back from the falls and treated ourselves to lots and lots of protein. We still prefer a nice juicy steak or chicken breast, but it wasn't too bad.